The medically assisted suicide of a non-terminally ill 23-year-old man didn’t take place as scheduled Wednesday. But, that’s only because his mother’s fight to save her son’s life — coupled with the outraged publicity it generated — compelled the doctor to change his mind..“I just learned the doctor who booked his euthanasia backed away,” said Toronto’s Margaret Marsilla..“I was scared. I didn’t know what I was going to wake up to. With the grace of God and everybody helping, we stopped the doctor.”.Her son Kiano, who wants to die because he’s visually impaired, was approved for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) by Dr. Joshua Tepper, who was set to euthanize him at MAiD House in Toronto..But the battle isn’t over..“It still gives other doctors the opportunity because he’s been approved. One doctor backed away, but another doctor might step in.”.“I don’t know what Kiano’s intention is. He’s very upset with me. I managed to stop it for now. I don’t know what my son’s plan is moving forward.”.Kiano had juvenile diabetes since age four. He’s blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. He suffers drug addiction that progressed since he was prescribed medical marijuana after a car accident at age 17. His injuries, including a concussion, were severe. His mental state declined since then, severely spiralllng after Marsilla took him to specialists in Miami in March. They confirmed nothing could be done to improve his eyesight. Without her knowledge, Kiano applied for MAiD on Aug 8, 2022 and was approved September 7..Marsilla said the doctor had “given him the gun to kill himself” without “due diligence,” in dealing with a visually impaired young man whose mental capacity is impaired by drug use. Marsilla only found out Kiano was scheduled to die because her daughter had access to his email. Kiano and the doctors shut her out..She’s determined to do everything possible to ensure that doesn’t happen again..“It’s in God’s hands at this point, but I am fighting. I hired a lawyer because I’m trying to get guardianship over him. Obviously, he’s not in the right position to be making these choices.”.“I had to hire this lawyer to help me do this through the courts so I can sleep at night knowing no doctor will touch my son.”.“We’re going to be fighting the Ontario health system to not allow any other doctors to perform euthanasia on my son.”.“We have to bring this to the Capacity Board, so he’ll be forced to do some testing with regards to his psychological capacity.”.Ontario’s Consent and Capacity Board, a quasi-judicial administrative tribunal, operates independently from the health ministry under the Health Care Consent Act’s authority. Marsilla’s also considering legal action against MAiD House and the doctor..“This is going to be a big battle. I’m not going to give up my fight.”.“My family, my support, and the lawyer, we’re going to go full force in Ontario. This is technically the first case in Ontario that’s gone as bad as it has. The only reason is because I intercepted my son’s emails. He would have already been dead on September 22. The doctor postponed it to the 28th.”.“My son would be dead if it wasn’t for all of the support and pressure we put on him. I got lucky. Imagine all the people who won’t get lucky like I did. They bring their loved ones to a procedure, and they don’t walk out.”.Canada’s MAiD laws criteria continue to broaden. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government legalized MAiD in 2016 — only for Canadians whose death was “reasonably foreseeable.”.In March the law was expanded to apply to anyone with a “grievous and irredeemable medical condition.” Now the Liberals are pushing to expand it next March to include Canadians who suffer medical conditions such as depression, or schizophrenia..MAiD criteria for approved applicants like Kiano are not written into the law yet..“I need to make a difference,” said Marsilla..“This whole situation shed light on euthanasia and what it could do to kids, to people we love. There’s a lot of awareness out there now for other parents, other people.”.“You have people suffering. Don’t turn your eyes away. Fight for them to get the right help.”.“The people at MAiD House and the doctors that do it, they have to make sure they cross their Ts and dot the Is before they ever approve anyone, especially people in their 20s who constantly change their minds.".“People who are in their 20s are not going to be the same people when they are 40 or 50. That’s why doctors need to understand that you cannot give a troubled 20-year-old a gun to kill themselves when they can clearly find a different future moving ahead. It takes time. It takes work.”.Marsilla has long consulted rehabilitation centers, psychologists, therapists — anyone she can..“I’ve been trying to get the right team together to help him and us. He doesn’t think he has an issue. He doesn’t think he has a problem. He doesn’t want me to win this fight.”.“I said ‘I’m trying to stop you from killing yourself. You’re my son. This is my duty as a mom. Yesterday was the first day in a long time that we talked normal.”.She wants to get him into rehab to “clear his system” of drugs..She hopes to set a precedent in Canada to “caution doctors before they approve people” and to include family members in the discussions..“They’re strictly not doing that.”.Marsilla wanted to know who the doctor was, who was holding her son’s life in his hands. She called Tepper, not identifying herself, posing as someone who wanted to die because she was blind and diabetic..“The way he was talking to me was like it was no big deal.”.She shared the recorded conversation with me on the grounds that its contents are not revealed yet. What can be said now is the doctor’s cavalier manner was chilling..“It’s literally a business,” said Marsilla..According to the federal MAiD annual report released in August, assisted deaths increased 32% — to 10,064 — in 2021 over the previous year, with hikes in all provinces of between 1.2% to 4.8%..In 2021, 3.3% of all Canadian deaths in were by euthanasia..The report said 81% of all applicants were approved. And two percent involved people with chronic illnesses who were not dying from their conditions. Applicants rejected included those where others pushed for patients to be euthanized — or the applicant wasn’t mentally fit to make the decision..Last week a special joint committee of the House of Commons and Senate, reviewing euthanasia laws, heard opposing arguments on justifying euthanasia and setting criteria for people with mental disorders. The committee’s report with recommendations is expected October 17..Marsilla said she’s grateful for the outpouring of support she received since going public..And for now, she’s grateful her son is still alive.
